>> Monday, August 04, 2003

For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own -- a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific. Lucky for her, brilliant computer programmer Jack Farley was on board and quick-witted enough to crash-land the plane. Now Jack is her sole companion on a remote desert island with nothing but guava trees and sharks for company. Who'd expect the shy genius -- and the least alpha male she knows -- to turn out to be the uninhibited stud of her wildest dreams?

Saving Genevieve's life has made Jack a hero in the eyes of the woman he has secretly lusted after for months. Now they're alone together in a tropical eden where they're free to give in to their every sensual whim. But when some nasty unfinished business puts them at risk again, Gen will learn there's nothing quite as dangerous as a fully aroused ex-nerd who'll move heaven and earth to protect the woman he loves...

I liked it very much, a B+. It was light and frothy, a book better read at the beach, not during a rainy Montevideo winter day. This was a case in which the cover really reflected the mood, tone and even setting of the book.

However, I must say it wasn't nearly as shallow as I've seen it accused of being. I really didn't think that this was a case of lust. In fact, I liked Gen because, though she wasn't attracted to Jackson before the plane went down, she was always kind to him, never mean or condescending. So I never got the feeling that Jackson's feelings for her were just a crush because she was beautiful, but also because he saw her as a kind person.

I loved Jack. Nerdy, beta heroes are my weakness, and he was just adorable and so nice. I loved that he had zero problem with the fact that Gen was the one who knew what she was doing in the island, and he followed her instructions without protest. A relief, really, after all those heroes who just have to be the ones in charge, or they don't feel like real men.

The weak point here was the very irritating dialect. I hated all those hillbilly expressions and turns of phrase, "Tarnation!", etc. The worst, however, has to be the scene when Gen tells Jack "This would be a good time for you to suck on my titties". Is this a huge turn-off or is it just me? Anyway, I thought this whole thing was completely unnecessary. I mean, I applauded Gen's decision to stop hiding her roots, but did the author have to make those roots so... annoying? (And I refuse to believe that this wasn't exagerated!).

Something very surprising was that Nerd was a very sexy book, but the love scenes weren't very explicit, a lot of almost-"fade to black". I wonder why this was so? I would have liked a little more detail, to tell the truth.